Mprovement in machinery for ginning or picking cotton



PATENT OFFICE.

F. A. GALVERT. 'OF LOVELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

MPROVEMINT iN MACHINERY FOR GINNING 0R PICKING COTTON.

Sbeciicution forming nariof T. \itersPatent No. 7.646. dated September17. 1.850.

Tn "l/ZZ whom, it may concer-n:

Be it known that whereas I, FnANors AL- TON CALVERT, of Lowell, in thecounty of Middlesex, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of theUnited States of America,

have invented certain Improvements in l\'Ia-.

ehin'ery for Picking Cotton or Cotton-Gills: Now know yc that I, thesaid Finnois AL'roN CALVERT, do hereby declare the nature of my saidinvention to consist in an improved machine for picking eotton-that is,in a machine by which the iibers of cotton are torn from the seeds andfrom any other extraneous matter which may be mixed with them, wherebythe separated fibers are less broken after the operation ef such pickingthan is the case with machines which have heretofore been used for thesame purpose.

nThe drawing i`s a side elevation in section of my improved machine.

A is one of the side casings in which suitable bearings are fixed for'the axes of the working parts.

B is an endless band, constructed of any material capable of conveyingcotton to a pair of feed-rollers. Y

C C are the feed-rollers, constructed so as pass the cotton to the combsor toothed cylinder D. This cylinder, from preference, I make of i'ron,though it may be made of any other suitable material. On the surface ofthis cylinder is -placed aV number of combs running parallel' 'with itsaxis. The teeth of these combs may project beyond the periphery of thecylinder,or they may be concentric-ith it; but in the latter case agroove is made under their points. This cylinder, without departing frommy invention, may be made of a series of disks with teeth on the surfaceat right angles tothe axis; or the teeth on the cylinder inay bearranged at any angle between those I have already described, the iirstof which are parallel to the axis, and the second at right angles Atoit.

E are rollers or bars made to revolve in the vsame direction as thetoothed cylinder D.

These rollers or bars are so constructed that in any plane through themat right angles with their axis a gap or blank space is left as shown inthe drawing.

- F is a cylindelmade to revolvein the contrary direction of the combsor toothed cylin derD, andpat a greater speed. Upon the peeration.

riphery of this cylinder a series of brushes or a continuous brush isixed, of any suitable material; but I prefer one made from bristles.

The operation of my improved machine is as follows: The cotton which hasto be picked or torn from the seeds or other impurities is placed, inthe usual manner adopted in former picking-machines, uponthe endlessband B, the upper side of which is made to move toward the feed-rollersin, the direction shown by an arrow; but this band has not a continuousuniform motion, but, on the contrary, it has an intermittent motiononly-that is, it is made to move through a certain space and then to stop, by any well-known machinery' such as the Geneva stop-motion, orwheels having teeth on only a part of their periphery. The effect ofthis action on the endless band is that the feed-rollers are onlysupplied at intervals from the cotton on its surface.

The drawing exhibits the machine after the feed-rollers have deliveredaportion of cotton onto the surface of the comb or toothed cylinder `andare for a time at rest, but all the other parts of the machine are inactive op- The cotton so delivered is carried by the teeth on thecylinder D against the roller or bar E when in the position shown, and

teeth are carried kforward under the roller or bar E', and any seeds orother extraneous lnatter to which they al'iixed are arrested andseparated by the projecting point of E at a. As all the other parts ofthe machine revolve at a uniform speed, except the endless band and thefeed-rollers, the cotton shown to have been first delivered iscontinuously acted upon lby the teeth in the cylinder D until the gap orblank space in E becomes concentric with the cylinder D, if circular; orif of another-form, leaves such an opening between the-cylinder D anditself that the cotton, by the action of the cylinder D, has room toescape to the next roller or bar, E2, which roller or bar is not then inthe position shown in the drawing,

,with the cylinder D,- as shown in the drawing, that E has to D, andsuch is the action of the succeeding rollers or bars E 'and E with rel"-erence to the cotton carried forward by the cylinder D.

It will be seen, ou examination o f this drawing, that each roller orbar E forces the fibers of those fibers which have been caught by thebut it is then in the same relative position' the cotton inone directionso long as they are attached to seeds or other extraneous matter, whilethe teeth on the cylinder D continue to carry forward all such iibers asare disengaged from the seeds. Thus, by the continuous ac tion of theteeth of the cylinder l) on the un-- clanedand unpicked ibers'of cottonand the change of positiom the cotton is forced into vby thearresting-rollers E, all the seeds 'and extraneous matter lare tornfroml the cottonibers, and the picked or cleaned cotton is carriedforward in the teeth ofthe cylinder D,

.and are-withdrawn from them as they come in contact with the surface ofthe brush F;

With regard tothe speed ofthe various l cylinders and rollers, I do notbind myself to any particular speeds, for, according to the V quality ofthe cotton and .other circumstances,

variousl relative'speeds may be nccessary,' and y Datedl London February8, -1850.

FRS.. "A. CALVERT.

- Witnesses:

lJosnrrr MARQUETTE, WILLIAM EWING. y A

l Bz'slzfopsgate OLmchg/ard, London.

